The northwest has just experienced a spell of dry weather over two months long. It’s been enough to make a man sick.

That’s all over now, thank Merckx. Commuting home today, I was caught off guard. No jacket, no gloves– nothing. A few drops hit, heavy and plump like ripe fruit. Then the drops became steady. By my half-way point, I was soaked thru. As I rose out of the saddle for the final climb to my house, I felt the rain accumulate on the tip of my nose and swing off with each pedal stroke.

The roads glistened in the dull light of street lamps, full of rain and empty of riders. They are all gone now– the summer heroes and the chatting groupettos. The roads are mine once more.

The rain hath returned. All hail the rain.